New DS1618+ NAS from Synology

Brand new 6-Bay for 2018

Information regarding a brand new Synology NAS for 2018 has been uncovered (excellent work by iDomiX here) and it looks like we are finally going to see a REAL player to join the DS1817+ and DS1517+ NAS. I think it is fair to say that when the Synology flagship 5-Bay and 8-Bay were released, many users were a little underwhelmed by the specifications. There is no doubt that they are solid, tried and tested NAS hardware options – the issue was that (with the exception of a PCIe slot and the option of more RAM) the hardware was identical to that of the 2015 released DS1515+ and DS1815+. This was made extra controversial by the comments being handed around about issues surrounding the intel atom based CPU inside these devices. Since their release, the DS1817+ and DS1517+ have gone on to prove many of those critics wrong and aside from a questionable support of 4K, they are great devices that arrive at a great price point in terms of both hardware and software support. However, the news of the DS1618+ 6-Bay NAS has really, really shaken things up! So what is the new DS1618+ NAS about and what is it that makes it so different to what we have seen before:

What is so special about the Synology DS1618+ NAS

This is not the first time Synology have looked into a 6-Bay NAS device. This is, in fact, their second 6-Bay NAS of their 2018 series. Their first was the DS3018xs and although they look the same, they are very different beasts and intended for a very different audience. See how they compare below:

How the DS1618+ and DS3018xs Compare

NAS Model	Synology DS3018xs	Synology DS1618+
	£1150+ ex.VAT (Available at SPAN)	£700-710 ex.VAT (TBC)
CPU Model	Intel Pentium D1508	Atom Denverton C3538
CPU Architecture	64-bit	64-bit
CPU Frequency	Dual Core 2.2 GHz 2.2 (base) / 2.6 (turbo) GHz	Quad Core 2.1Ghz
Hardware Encryption Engine (AES-NI)	YES	YES
Memory
System Memory	8 GB DDR4 ECC SO-DIMM	4 GB DDR4 NON-ECC SO-DIMM
Memory Module Pre-installed	8GB (1 x 8GB)	4GB (1 x 4GB)
Total Memory Slots	2	2
Memory Expandable up to	32 GB (16 GB x 2)	32 GB (16 GB x 2)
Storage
Drive Bays	6	6
Maximum Drive Bays with Expansion Unit	30	16
Compatible Drive Type	3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD	3.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA HDD 2.5″ SATA SSD
Maximum Internal Raw Capacity	72 TB (12 TB drive x 6) (Capacity may vary by RAID types)	72 TB (12 TB drive x 6) (Capacity may vary by RAID types)
Maximum Single Volume Size	200 TB (32GB RAM required, for RAID 5 or RAID 6 groups only) 108 TB	200 TB (32GB RAM required, for RAID 5 or RAID 6 groups only) 108 TB
Hot Swappable Drive	YES	YES
External Ports
RJ-45 1GbE LAN Port	4 (with Link Aggregation / Failover support)	4 (with Link Aggregation / Failover support)
USB 3.0 Port	3	3
Expansion Port	2	2
PCIe
PCIe Expansion	1 x Gen3 x8 slot (x8 link)	1 x Gen3 x8 slot (x8 link)
File System
Internal Drives	Btrfs EXT4	Btrfs EXT4
External Drives	Btrfs EXT4 EXT3 FAT NTFS HFS+ exFAT*	Btrfs EXT4 EXT3 FAT NTFS HFS+ exFAT*
Notes	exFAT Access is purchased separately in Package Center.	exFAT Access is purchased separately in Package Center.

As you can see, they seem very similar in terms of external hardware, but inside we see a newer atom CPU revison and different memory options. Also, because this is part of the +/PLUS Synology flagship series and not the XS series, you will not have a 5 year warranty or the SRS (Synology replacement service). The result is that the new Synology DS1618+ will have a much more affordable price tag.

There is still no confirmation on a price, but based on current models, the price above is our best estimate at this time.

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